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American Bureau of Shipping Approves SSPC Protective Coatings Inspector (PCI) Program

- Program deemed equivalent to NACE and FROSIO inspector programs

PITTSBURGH, March 17 PRNewswire-USNewswire — SSPC: The Society for Protective Coatings is pleased to announce that effective February 11, 2008, the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), the world's 2nd largest commercial shipping classification society, has approved SSPC's PCI program as equivalent to NACE Coating Inspector Level 2 and FROSIO Inspector Level III.

This approval is a milestone for the PCI program, which was launched by SSPC in 2007. "It lends credibility to our program, for sure," stated Bill Shoup, Executive Director of SSPC. "Our goal during development of the program was to serve our members needs and ensure that it stacked up to existing programs on the market. This approval is an independent validation of that and proof that we've met one of our important benchmarks." Added Doni Riddle, President of SSPC and Vice President & Director, Industrial & Marine Marketing at The Sherwin-Williams Company, "We've had plenty of positive feedback from PCI students and the coatings industry at large, but to gain such quick approval from ABS is really a powerful endorsement of the program."

The PCI program is an intensive one week program designed to thoroughly train individuals in the proper methods of inspecting surface preparation and the installation of industrial and marine protective coatings and lining systems on a wide variety of steel structures. It is the fourth inspector program offered by SSPC and joins the Bridge Coatings Inspector (BCI) program, Concrete Coatings Inspector (CCI) program, and NAVSEA Basic Paint Inspector (NBPI) course in SSPC's comprehensive set of coatings inspector certification programs.

In order to achieve this status, the PCI program needed to meet the stringent criteria of Section 2.3 of IACS Procedural Requirement No. 34 Rev. January 1, 2008. Procedural Requirement (PR) 34 addresses "Application of the IMO Performance Standard for Protective Coatings (PSPC)." Section 2 focuses on the procedure for assessment of coating inspectors' qualifications, with 2.3 specifically covering equivalent qualifications.

In addition to ABS, SSPC training and professional development programs have been certified by other agencies such as The International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and The American Institute of Architects (AIA).

About SSPC

SSPC is The Coatings Society, dedicated to the use of high-performance industrial coatings for the protection and preservation of concrete, steel and other industrial structures. Founded in 1950 as the Steel Structures Painting Council, SSPC is the only non-profit association whose sole mission is to promote and support the use of industrial coatings for corrosion protection. This is accomplished through the development of standards, training, publications, certifications, advocacy, the Paint & Coatings Expo, and a wide range of information resources. Membership in SSPC includes over 8,000 coatings professionals and over 750 industry-related companies. For more information, visit www.SSPC.org.

About ABS

The mission of ABS is to serve the public interest as well as the needs of their clients by promoting the security of life, property and the natural environment primarily through the development and verification of standards for the design, construction and operational maintenance of marine-related facilities. For more information, please visit www.eagle.org.

About IACS and IMO

IACS is short for the International Association of Classification Societies, which was formed in September 1968 and is a gathering of ten classification societies that promote the safety and protection of the environment of ships and offshore structures. One of the primary functions of IACS is to develop guidance documents for the International Maritime Organization (IMO), whose main function is to coordinate international maritime safety and related practices. More information on IACS can be found at www.iacs.org.uk. More information on IMO can be found at www.imo.org.

SOURCE Society for Protective Coatings

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